Do you brew during normal business hours?

[rileysbrewing]

Do you brew at your brewpub while people are eating/drinking at the restaurant?

Do you have an open or closed kettle?

[wailingguitar]

In the past when I worked at brewpubs we would brew during open hours frequently. Some of those places had the brewhouse behind a glass wall, a few did not and there was only a railing separating the brewhouse from the restaurant. In all cases the kettle had a dome top with a vent stack. In some cases the kettle many would remain open, though, and some of the steam would be released into the ambient air in the restaurant. I don't know if I would use a totally open kettle in an open restaurant unless I had a hood above it, but if the space was big enough it might not be a thing.

[TGTimm]

With a brewery behind, and out of sight of, the pub (no fishbowl!), we usually brew during business hours. The smell of boiling wort wafting across town is the best free advertising we can get!

[JustinDCrawford]

On a regular basis we brew during business hours. My morning guy starts in the morning for the first half and I come in around opening to do the second half. We have had numerus complements from people due to the smell. Yes it can get a little humid; however the people that come visit us find that awesome. My kettle is maybe about 30 feet from the bar and there is nothing but an opening and a lean-to bar for people to take a peak. However it does get a little odd when the same guy just stands there and stairs at me.

[Junkyard]

Yes, most of the time it's not actually brewing- we'll often be cropping yeast or counting yeast while folks are in. We have a big glass garage door between the taproom and brewery. I'd rather not work in a fishbowl, but I guess it's probably fun for people to see some action.

[beerguy1]

WE brew almost 100% during regular business hours. I encourage my crew to go out and mingle with the guests when they have time. People seem to enjoy watching us laugh when we make mistakes (small boil over 2 days ago) I walked out to the tap room and told them we give the floor dripping to budweiser and that brought a cheer from the crowd. We do have a wall and windows between the 2 rooms. I would never encourage having it open. We all know things fly aroound like caustic,acis the f bomb. Plus sometimes the crews choice of music ie the greatfull dead isnt good for most lol

[Todd Hicks]

In a brewpub, it is always part of the show. For those who complain about the smell, they can hitch on over to Ruby Tuesday. That would be more their speed.

But... the brewery should be behind glass and the kettle stack should very well ventilated. Whining pumps can be annoying. Plan accordingly. Brewers should also work neatly and mind their appearance and mannerisms.

[mikeyrb1]

We brew during operating hours. We have tables about three feet from our kettle, no glass, but a well vented kettle. There's also a catwalk above us so customers can look down into the Mash tun and kettle. We mainly have to be careful when cleaning out the mash tun and kettle. I buy them a beer if the actually get wet, but that rarely happens. Like others, we are usually walking around talking to patrons at the bar in between brew cycles.

Sure, we get complaints sometimes. One guy complained about the smell of "Olives and cleaning fluid" AKA Hops, which actually smelled amazing coming out of a freshly brewed DIPA. Some people complain about the steam because it messes up the lady's hair, or the smell of the grain which somehow isn't favorable to some people. Like Todd, we have a wonderful Ruby Tuesday down the street for those who like Light American Lagers in frosted mugs and sub-par salad bars, with very few objectionable smells other than the overly perfumed/hairsprayed ladies visiting from TX. But we get by.

[barleyfreak]

We're full-on fishbowl 7bbl brewpub here. Brew sessions usually run between 11am and 7pm, behind glass. They get to see the dough-in, through to end-of-boil, knockout, and the glorious kettle wash down. We designed it that way because I've always thought it interesting to see what's going on and think others do to. But all behind glass, sound proof, good ventilation. I now keep my nose picking to a bare minimum.